Tag Archives: Road Trip

The make-or-break road trip to start the second half is breaking them. Who knows? Matter it will shatter them by the time they return home.

The Mets have Carlos Beltran and Jose Reyes back, but that hasn’t helped their stagnant offense, which is hitting .203 during the Mets last ten games. The Mets have gone 2-8 in that span, including 1-5 since the break.

They’ve scored just 18 runs in those ten games and 12 in the last six. Two wins is about right.

The Mets come off their 7-2 road trip – had the offense not take the last two games of the Yankees series off it could have been 8-1 or better – yet another example of their streakiness.

After winning seven straight on the road the Mets scored all of three runs on 10 hits in the last two games of the Yankees series, and in the process dropped to 2 1/2 games behind the Braves.

The Mets have been all or nothing this year, either sizzling or freezing. They should not be penalized because they beat up on Baltimore on Cleveland, because playoff caliber teams should maul the weaker teams.

There’s no question out of necessity the Mets rushed Mike Pelfrey, but it says a lot about him that he was able to learn and not let the frustrations of a 3-8 season in 2007 sabotage his development as it would with many young pitchers.

PELFREY: Goes for fifth straight win tonight.

Pelfrey appeared to find himself in 2008, but regressed last year to the point where he was mentioned in trade rumors. Pelfrey, simply, was a mess with some hideous moments, such as a three-balk afternoon in San Francisco.

He still had all the good things in his scouting report, such as a power fastball, but it was outweighed by a propensity for not being able to finish off batters or innings.

When things got tense, Pelfrey got tight and small threats mushroomed into big innings. When they unraveled for him, he was all over the place.

When he struggled this spring, some speculated he’d be better off in the minor leagues – I had that thought – but Pelfrey promised he was working on things and would be better.

The Mets limp home tonight from their 2-4 road trip to face the Florida Marlins at Citi Field, with knuckleballer R.A. Dickey going against Anibal Sanchez.

Game #55 vs. Marlins

Dickey has been surprisingly good since he was brought up from Class AAA Buffalo, May 19, going 2-0 with a 2.84 ERA. He did it against Washington, Philadelphia and Milwaukee, all three possessing strong offenses.

“He battles,’’ manager Jerry Manuel said. “I think he deserves another shot, no doubt about it. In all of his starts he’s given us a chance to win. When you get that, you’ve got to keep going with it.’’

Since beating the Marlins on Opening Day, the Mets have lost six straight games to them. Something has to give because the Mets have won their last five at home and 15 of 19.